Hit-and-run eludes slightest resolution

In the case of a hit-and-run driver who struck and killed a homeless woman three months ago, all roads lead to a posh home on Davis Islands, police say.

That's where, Tampa police say, they found the maroon SUV that they think hit 33-year-old Melissa Sjostrom on Feb. 8. The sport utility vehicle was damaged. A paint chip from it matched one found at the scene like a "jigsaw puzzle," a detective wrote in his report.

A teenager living at the house told her parents she had been involved in an accident, and video from the Selmon Crosstown Expressway put the SUV - undamaged, at the time - near the scene of the hit and run a few minutes before it happened.

Jordan Valdez, age 16 at the time, was never charged in connection with Sjostrom's death, though she was cited for careless driving in connection with the crash. On Tuesday, even that fell through: A judge dismissed the citation when Tampa police Detective Robert Powell didn't show up to testify.

Police officials say their investigation was hampered because tinted windows obscured the driver's face and they can't prove who was behind the wheel when the woman was hit. They say they hope more witnesses will come forward.

"There is no statute of limitations on this case," police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said.

Died during surgery

Sjostrom was limping across Hyde Park Avenue about 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 8 when she was struck by an SUV going 45 to 50 mph, a police report says. Sjostrom died during surgery at Tampa General Hospital.

A few hours after the crash, detectives spotted a Nissan Murano with front-end and hood damage parked in front of 640 Hudson Ave on Davis Islands. Detectives compared paint chips from the crash scene to the Nissan and found that the colors matched.

"The chip matched up to an edge where a section of paint was missing just like a jigsaw puzzle," Powell wrote in his report.

Detectives impounded the SUV. The next day, Robert Valdez called police and said his daughter's Nissan was missing.

Jordan Valdez had thought the car was stolen, but after learning detectives had the Nissan towed, she "then told her mother that she had been in an accident," a police report says.

Detectives got a search warrant for the Murano and took a SunPass transponder and more paint chips from the vehicle.

With the transponder, detectives were able to determine that the Murano was at the Selmon Crosstown Expressway's Plant toll plaza at 8:24 p.m. The driver of the Murano could not be identified from the toll booth's security cameras, but there was no crash damage visible on the vehicle.

Acknowledged as driver

Powell met with Jordan Valdez and her attorney, Ty Trayner, on April 23. Trayner told the detective that under the state's accident report privilege doctrine, he would say the teen was the driver for the civil aspect of the investigation.

With that information, Powell cited Valdez for careless driving. But under the privilege doctrine, the statement that Valdez was driving cannot be used in a criminal investigation.

As for Tuesday's hearing on the careless driving citation, Powell never planned on attending to testify because he didn't witness the crash, McElroy said.

The attorney representing Sjostrom's family, Andre Busald, said he has not filed a civil lawsuit but is using an intermediary to negotiate with the Valdez family on a settlement.

"A suit is what you do when all else fails," Busald said. "I'm still pursuing the all elses."

When asked if justice would be served if no one was criminally convicted in the case but the woman's family received a fair cash settlement, Busald was unequivocal.

"Absolutely," he said. "There is a 14-year-old son who does not have a mother." A settlement, he said, would help provide for the boy.

And, Busald said, "I think the family would like to have some sort of acknowledgement that, 'Yes I did this.' Not sure apology is the term, but you know what I mean."

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story contained an error. Jordan Valdez was cited for careless driving.